The Ultimate Steel-Brained Straight Man

"How is it, Old Li? This poem's pretty good, right?"

Wang Weimin was on the phone, his hearty laughter ringing out from the president's office at Jinling University.

"Th-this..."

"Come on, Old Wang. I know you too well. There's no way you wrote this poem. You think you could write something like this? Tell me, where'd you find this lost gem in some ancient book?"

The middle-aged man on the other end, Old Li, had been stunned the moment he saw the poem "Yearning." He'd thought Old Wang had secretly been brushing up on his poetry and managed to write a poem that would be passed down for generations.

But on second thought, even if he studied for a hundred years, he still wouldn't be able to write something like this.

He must have found it in some ancient book. Even he had to admit that this poem was beautifully written.

As the president of the Guangfu Poetry Association, he was a professional. He also enjoyed writing a few poems in his spare time, and occasionally produced a fine one.

But he was certain that there was no way he could write a poem like this.

Though it was only a Five-Character Quatrain and looked incredibly simple, it was actually the highest level of poetry that praised an object: seeing an object and thinking of someone, entrusting one's feelings to it.

"Hahaha, you probably won't believe me, but a young man in his twenties wrote it."

"Wang Weimin, you son of a—quit talking nonsense! Even if you don't want to lend me that rare ancient book of yours to look at, you don't have to make up such a ridiculous story to fool me."

Li Xuexin immediately flew into a rage and shouted at Wang Weimin.

"Hey, hey, you're getting worked up. What's the big deal? Listen, Old Li, you know what kind of person I am."

"I, Wang Weimin, don't lie. This poem's going to be entered in your Guangfu Poetry Competition this year, too. You'll probably see the submission come in from the local branch tomorrow."

"Really?"

Li Xuexin still didn't quite believe it. Could someone barely in his twenties really write this poem?

It was just too ridiculous. Had he wasted all these years of his life, then?

"Wait, I haven't even seen the poem yet. How did you get to see it first, Wang Weimin? Even if you're a judge, you're not supposed to see it until it's passed the preliminary review, right?"

"Hahaha, I'm the one who submitted it for him. The young man who wrote it and I go way back. You wouldn't know about that, would you?"

Wang Weimin felt absolutely delighted. This young man might just become his future son-in-law. A poem he couldn't write himself—

If his son-in-law could write it, then his family had written it. By the time you rounded things off, he might as well have written it himself.

"If that's really the case, then the Guangfu Competition Area's Poetry Competition champion is a foregone conclusion this year."

Li Xuexin sighed.

"Where'd you find this young man? Let me meet him sometime. A young talent like him is incredible. The Huaxia Poetry Competition has been running for so many years, and 'Yearning' would rank among the best."

"How I met him is none of your business. The kid hates trouble, so we'll see. I called you today just to brag. Hahahaha!"

Wang Weimin's hearty laughter came through the phone. Li Xuexin's face darkened, and he hung up.

Wang Weimin wasn't bothered when he saw that the call had ended. He thought for a moment, then picked up his phone and made another call, this time to Wang Siyi.

Wang Siyi saw that the caller ID said Dad and hesitated, but in the end she answered. She put the phone to her ear but didn't speak.

"Siyi, you finally answered Dad's call!"

Wang Weimin said excitedly. But Wang Siyi still didn't say anything. Mainly, she didn't know what to say.

"Siyi, I heard you're in Shanghai now?"

"Mm."

"Could you come home sometime? Your mom hasn't seen you in a long while."

Her mother's face came to mind. It really had been a long time since Wang Siyi had seen her.

Although whenever she met her mother over the past few years, they'd ended up falling out, she still missed her a little.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally said:

"I'm busy getting my new album ready. We'll see when I have some time."

"All right, all right. When you do come back, remember to let Dad know ahead of time!"

Wang Weimin was already overjoyed. He knew that if Wang Siyi didn't refuse, that meant she'd agreed. She might not be coming back right away, but at least now he had something to look forward to.

This time, when his daughter came home, he'd find a way to get his wife and daughter to talk things out.

There was no conflict between a mother and daughter that couldn't be resolved. It all depended on how they handled it.

"Okay, Dad. I've got something to do, so I'll hang up now."

The entire call had lasted less than three minutes, but after hanging up, Wang Siyi still felt a little nervous.

She didn't know what to say. She really had grown so distant from her parents over the past few years.

Wang Weimin, however, didn't mind how short the call was. His daughter had answered, and she'd called him Dad. That alone made him happy.

He'd been overthinking things before. If his daughter wanted to do something, as long as it wasn't harmful, what was wrong with supporting her?

Chen Baozhu came back in from outside. When she saw Wang Siyi, she said excitedly:

"Wan Jun, I've got everything sorted out with the company. Your album will be released in a week. Make sure you get some rest during this time. Once the new album comes out, you'll probably have to start doing publicity, and you won't have as much time to rest."

"And remember to practice 'Red Bean' more. You'll probably have to perform it onstage. You'll also be appearing at the preview screening for Huang Wenchuan's new movie. Take good care of your voice during this time."

"Okay, Sister Baozhu. You've worked hard lately."

Wang Siyi was delighted, too. No one was happier than her that her new album was finally going to be released. She also knew that she had Chen Baozhu to thank for getting everything arranged so quickly.

"Hey, isn't this what I'm supposed to do? Being an agent means working like a beast of burden."

Chen Baozhu waved her hand, indicating that it was her job. Wang Siyi was wonderful in every way, except that she was far too polite.

Wang Siyi clearly wanted to share the good news with Li Changle, too.

"My new album comes out in a week."

Then she sent him a sticker.

"Then I'll wish you an early success with the album."

Li Changle wasn't particularly invested in how Wang Siyi's album did. He didn't really mind either way, though of course it'd be great if it became a hit.

When she'd been drunk, she'd still been thinking about becoming a Diva. That seemed pretty important to her.

"Thanks for writing that song for me. I love it."

"Wasn't that what I was supposed to do? I said that song was the rent for letting me live here."

"Then why don't you live there your whole life and write songs for me forever?"

Wang Siyi was getting bolder. After all, she wasn't saying these embarrassing things to his face. Chatting on WeChat gave people an endless courage buff.

She was the superstar Wang Wanjun now. Those words were coming from Wang Siyi, so what did they have to do with her, Wang Wanjun?

Li Changle saw Wang Siyi's message and felt his scalp tingle. Not knowing how to reply, he forced himself to type:

"Uh, that might not be a good idea, would it?"

"You're not going to sing forever, are you? You won't, right? You won't, right?"

Wang Siyi put down her phone with a blank expression and decided to ignore this idiot. She really had nothing better to do. She'd been in a good mood, so why had she bothered chatting with him?

Li Changle waited for over half an hour, but Wang Siyi still hadn't replied. He figured she must be busy and didn't think much of it, so he went back to writing.

But when evening came and Wang Siyi still hadn't replied, Li Changle started to feel something was wrong.

Oh no. Could she be angry? He picked up his phone and checked their chat history.

He hadn't said anything wrong, had he? Women were so strange. They got angry over the smallest things.

Not knowing what to say—and unable to ask her outright if she was angry—he simply sent her a sticker.

Wang Siyi looked at the sticker in the chat. It was a dog shaking its head wildly.

She was still a little annoyed and didn't want to reply, so she simply put her phone down and went back to eating.

Xiuxiu noticed what Wang Siyi was doing and thought to herself:

Sister Wanjun was amazing. In just two days, she'd figured it out on her own and gotten Li Changle wrapped around her little finger.

"Sister Wanjun, aren't you going to answer him?"

Xiuxiu was clearly very concerned about Wang Siyi's love life, and Wang Siyi had never tried to hide it from her.

Sometimes she even asked Xiuxiu to help analyze things between her and Li Changle. So she hadn't kept anything from Xiuxiu and had told her the whole story.

"That guy's an idiot. I don't want to talk to him!"

Wang Siyi was still fuming and spoke with puffed-out cheeks.

Xiuxiu was stunned. So a guy really could be that clueless? He genuinely didn't know Sister Wanjun liked him. Xiuxiu rubbed her forehead helplessly.

She suddenly felt that Wang Siyi's path to love might not be as easy as she'd thought.

"Are you really going to keep ignoring him? What if he actually stops contacting you, Sister Wanjun?"

Xiuxiu said hesitantly. She suddenly felt that her earlier plan of observing them for a month wasn't going to work for Wang Siyi and Li Changle.

That plan was for normal people. Li Changle didn't seem all that normal. The ultimate steel-brained straight man couldn't be much worse.

"I-I don't know, either. But he says such infuriating things. I don't even want to talk to him."

Wang Siyi sounded disheartened.

Unable to come up with an answer, Wang Siyi decided to stop thinking about it and went back to her room to rest. She was a little tired today.

But even after lying in bed until midnight, she kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

She finally took out her phone and checked their WeChat chat history. It was still on the sticker Li Changle had sent.

She paused for a moment, then thought it over and decided to send him a message.

"If I sang for the rest of my life, would you be willing to write songs for me for the rest of yours?"

A few dozen seconds after sending it, she felt she'd acted too impulsively and hurriedly unsent the message.

But just after she unsent it, Li Changle replied with a single word:

"Okay."

Li Changle had been tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, too. He wanted to talk to Wang Siyi, but couldn't think of what to say.

Besides sending stickers, he had nothing else to send. And Wang Siyi probably wouldn't reply to a sticker, either.

Li Changle was still wondering whether he should message Wang Siyi when his phone chimed.

Then he saw Wang Siyi's message. Without even thinking, he replied with one word: "Okay."

But as soon as he sent it, Wang Siyi unsent her message.

What was with this woman? Never mind. He sent her a sticker saying, "I saw it even though you unsent it," hoping to ease the awkwardness.

"I'm going to sleep. Good night."

Wang Siyi didn't explain why she'd unsent the message, and she didn't respond to Li Changle's "Okay," either. She just said she was tired and going to bed.

There was nothing Li Changle could do. He sent her a good-night message and put down his phone.

Wang Siyi lay in bed with a smile on her face, both hands wrapped around her phone and holding it to her chest, her eyes closed. A minute later, she put the phone down and decided to sleep.

Wang Siyi closed her eyes and soon fell asleep. Without even realizing it, she drifted off with a smile on her face.

Li Changle looked at his phone and shook his head. He was getting sleepy, too. He fell into a deep sleep with a smile on his face as well.

The next morning, Li Changle got up and, as usual, picked up his phone to send Wang Siyi a good-morning message. After all, he'd promised her.

The first thing he did was update The Legend of the Condor Heroes. He posted the second chapter, "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan," then ignored the comment section.

He went to wash up, then started making breakfast. Although he wasn't as motivated to cook when Wang Siyi wasn't around,

he'd eaten enough takeout to know it wasn't good for him. Li Changle decided to get back into cooking and enjoy a leisurely day.

Wang Siyi had gotten up early, too. As a singer, doing vocal warm-ups in the morning was essential.

Especially since she hadn't performed live in a while. To maintain her singing skills, she had to practice every day.

After warming up her voice, Wang Siyi went over to the piano. She suddenly felt like singing "Red Bean" for Li Changle.

She found the sheet music for "Red Bean," placed it in front of the piano, then opened her phone's voice recorder and began singing softly.

"Before I've had a chance to feel..."

After recording it, Wang Siyi's lips curled up slightly. She was more and more convinced that "Red Bean" was a song Li Changle had written for her.

His claim that the song had already been in his head was a lie. Hmph.

She sent Li Changle the piano accompaniment version of "Red Bean" and left the practice room to go eat breakfast.

Li Changle saw Wang Siyi had sent him a file and initially wasn't sure what to make of it.

But when he opened it, he found an audio file. He tapped play, and a gentle piano intro began to play.

Then came Wang Siyi's clear, ethereal voice, with the faintest hint of sweetness, her delivery just right.

After listening once, Li Changle played it again, then immediately set "Red Bean" as his ringtone.

Wang Siyi really did sing beautifully. She was just as good as Miss Wang.

"Your singing was beautiful. I really liked it."

Only after listening twice did Li Changle realize he hadn't replied to Wang Siyi. He hurriedly sent her a message.

Wang Siyi was eating breakfast when she looked at her phone and saw Li Changle's message saying he really liked the song. The bowl of plain congee in front of her seemed to have sugar in it.

Thanks to Ji Mo Han Chuang Xue for the tip. Thank you!

A quick complaint about today's chapter: I deleted and rewrote it, then rewrote and deleted it again. Something always felt off. This version is probably the one I'm happiest with, though it still seems just okay. I got stuck while writing this part and wasn't in good shape, but things get much better later, so don't worry.

You probably won't believe this, but I actually have enough chapters saved up to start releasing paid chapters. But I haven't gotten a single recommendation slot. Can you believe this book only got one recommendation after 130,000 words?

This book has pitifully few followers right now, so if it went paid, there'd be no outcome but failure. So I have to ask everyone who likes this book to keep reading and vote. It's really important and directly affects what recommendation slots this book gets in the future.

Once it goes paid, I might not be able to update 10,000 words every day, but I can definitely manage that for the first ten days or half a month after it goes paid.

If this book does well, everyone gets to enjoy more of it, too, so I'm counting on you! If you've got votes, please send them my way, whatever kind they are! Thank you!